I’m back! Yes I thought I would be able to keep up the daily post of book reviewage but I was sick…so it didn’t happen. But I’m back in the posting saddle and ready to share with you another of my reviews. This book is one of those YA trilogies but in this one we are around for the apocalypse…exciting fun! In this one we get to follow different narrators throughout the demise of all society….
The basics are this : everything is super crazy all at the same time. There is massive earthquake AND everybody gets really kill-happy all at the same time. Not just random kill-happy but lock people in an assembly hall and massacre them kill-happy. We start our story with Mason, whose mother was just killed in a car accident. While he is at her bedside, his high school is bombed and everybody he knows has been killed. Meanwhile, Aries (worst name ever) is on a bus with her best friend when an earthquake hits. She is saved by a mysterious stranger but must learn to survive the aftermath on her own. Clementine is in a town-hall meeting that goes terribly wrong and now is on the run from the killers. Michael is driving down the road when he witnesses a brutal crime, only to have the police who show up turn murderous and start hunting him down. We follow these four people (and some strange chapters thrown in by Nothing) as they contend with this new world and eventually meet up. How do you survive in a world where everybody is out to kill you, food and water are scarce and you don’t know where to go?
So, this is kind of a zombie book without the zombies. While this first book doesn’t delve into the reasons why all this happened there is some talk about an ancient evil culling civilizations out through time i.e. Rome, Aztecs, etc… I expect this will be prominent in the forthcoming books. I enjoyed the tense feeling throughout the book, there are no guarantees on who survives. Also, the characters are really interesting. They are not always heroic or even good. The females, for once, manage to be competent and feminine. I couldn’t tell where the story was going but I was anxious to find out. ALSO, I love that there is no romance because honestly that can seem so manufactured sometimes. This was a good YA book and I would recommend it. Some of the names are ridiculous and some of the dialogue is a little overly dramatic but I enjoyed the story and the characters. I give it seven shoes – a functional cute pair of riding boots.
If you are interested here is the book trailer for Dark Inside :
Three Appeals : apocalypse zombie story without the zombies, strong female characters, fast-paced tense writing
Red Flags : Violence and gore
If you like Dark Inside try :
1) Legend by Marie Lu
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths – until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets. (taken from Fantastic Fiction)
2) Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn’t want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.(taken from Fantastic Fiction)
3) Unwind by Neal Shusterman
An unsettling futuristic novel set after the Second Civil War. Connor Lassiter, age 16, runs away from his suburban Ohio home after discovering that his parents have scheduled his “unwinding.” His body parts will go to other people who need them. He will be both terminated and “technically” kept alive, only in a separated state. The constitutional amendments known as “The Bill of Life” permit parents to choose “retroactive” abortion for children between the ages of 13 and 18. Connor meets another Unwind, Risa, and they kidnap Lev, who is a Tithe (the 10th child born to a single family with the express purpose of being unwound). Their escape and survival stories interweave as they struggle to avoid harvest camps. Luckily, an underground network is helping Unwinds escape to safety. (taken from Novelist)
I really liked the book trailer…what did you think??
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Thanks,
Trina
The Bookinista 